(GHG) Verification Guideline Series, Natural Gas-Fired Microturbine
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SRI/USEPA-GHG-GD-03 March 2002 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Verification Guideline Series Natural Gas-Fired Microturbine Electrical Generators Prepared by: Greenhouse Gas Technology Center Southern Research Institute Under a Cooperative Agreement With U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA REVIEW NOTICE This report has been peer and administratively reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. SRI/USEPA-GHG-GD-03 March 2002 Greenhouse Gas Technology Center A U.S. EPA Sponsored Environmental Technology Verification ( ) Organization Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Verification Guideline Series Natural Gas-Fired Microturbine Electrical Generators Prepared by: Greenhouse Gas Technology Center Southern Research Institute PO Box 13825 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA Telephone: 919/806-3456 FOREWORD The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program to facilitate the deployment of promising environmental technologies. Under this program, third-party performance testing of environmental technology is conducted by independent verification organizations under strict EPA quality assurance guidelines. Southern Research Institute (SRI) is one of six independent verification organizations operating under ETV, and operates the Greenhouse Gas Technology Center (GHG Center). With full participation from technology providers, purchasers, and other stakeholders, the GHG Center develops testing protocols and conducts technology performance evaluation in field and laboratory settings. The testing protocols are developed and peer reviewed with input from a broad group of industry, research, government, and other stakeholders. After their development, the protocols are field-tested, often improved, and then made available to interested users via Verification Guidelines such as this. Typically, verifications conducted by the GHG Center involve substantial measurements, so an effort is made here to recommend only the most important measurements for the guideline. This document provides guidelines for verifying the performance of natural gas-fired microturbines as a source of distributed generation (DG). These guidelines are based upon two verification tests conducted by the GHG Center on commercially available microturbines. Microturbines as a DG source of power typically range from 5 to 1,000 kilowatts (kW) and provide electric power at a site closer to customers than central station generation. A distributed power unit can be connected directly to the customer or to a utility’s transmission and distribution (T&D) system. This guideline is based on the verifications conducted by the GHG Center where performance evaluations addressed the following parameters: • Power production performance – Actual power generated at various power command settings and ambient conditions, and electricity offset from baseline power generating systems (e.g., utility grid) • Electrical efficiency – Energy conversion efficiency based on power output, fuel consumption, and fuel heating value • Electrical power quality performance – Quality of electricity generated and supplied to the end user • Operational performance – Cold start time and system availability • Emissions performance – Criteria pollutant and GHG emissions generated at various power command settings • Estimated emission reductions compared to baseline electricity production equipment The purpose of this guideline is to describe specific procedures for evaluation and verification of natural gas-fired microturbines. It is not the intention of the GHG Center that these guidelines become accepted as a national or international standard. Rather, a significant effort has been devoted to their development, field trial, and improvement; and this experience and data are recognized as potentially valuable to others. Instrument descriptions and recommendations presented in this document do not constitute an endorsement by the GHG Center or the EPA. Readers should be aware that use of this guideline is voluntary, and that the GHG Center is not responsible for liabilities that result from its use. Finally, the GHG Center continues to conduct verifications, and will update this guideline with new findings as warranted. Updates can be obtained online at the GHG Center (www.sri-rtp.com) or ETV (www.epa.gov/etv) Web sites. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Greenhouse Gas Technology Center wishes to thank all participants in the field verifications used to develop performance verification testing strategies that were adopted to prepare this guideline. This includes members of the GHG Center’s Electricity Generation Stakeholder Group and Distributed Generation Technical Panel. Special thanks are extended to R. Neal Elliott of ACEEE, Jerry Bernards of Portland General Electric, Charles Underhill of Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, Ted Bronson and Todd Kolross of the Gas Technology Institute, David Hajesz of Natural Resources Canada, Rob Brandon of CANMET Energy Technology Centre, Ian Potter of the Alberta Research Council, and Brock John of the KEFI Exchange for conducting extensive reviews of the GHG Center’s Test Plans and Verification Reports. Special thanks to the staff of the University of Maryland, College Park - Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) for their service in hosting a microturbine verification test whose results were used to develop this guideline document including Predrag Popovic, Aris Marantan, Eric Griff, and Werner Wongsosaputro. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................................1-1 1.1. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 1-1 1.2. VERIFICATION GUIDELINE SCOPE ............................................................................... 1-2 1.3. DESCRIPTION OF THE MICROTURBINE TECHNOLOGY.............................................. 1-3 2.0 VERIFICATION GUIDELINE ............................................................................................................................................2-1 2.1. OVERVIEW OF THE VERIFICATION STRATEGY .......................................................... 2-1 2.2. POWER PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE......................................................................... 2-5 2.2.1. Electrical Power Output and Efficiency at Selected Loads ......................................... 2-5 2.2.2. Total Electrical Energy Generated ............................................................................ 2-9 2.2.3. Instrumentation and Measurement Requirements..................................................... 2-10 2.2.3.1. Power Output Meter................................................................................ 2-11 2.2.3.2. Fuel Gas Conditions ................................................................................ 2-12 2.2.3.3. Fuel Heating Value Measurements........................................................... 2-14 2.2.3.4. Ambient Conditions Measurements.......................................................... 2-14 2.3. POWER QUALITY PERFORMANCE .............................................................................. 2-15 2.3.1. Electrical Frequency Output ................................................................................... 2-16 2.3.2. Voltage Output and Transients ............................................................................... 2-17 2.3.3. Voltage and Current Total Harmonic Distortion....................................................... 2-18 2.3.4. Power Factor......................................................................................................... 2-20 2.3.5. Power Quality Instrumentation and Measurement Requirements............................... 2-20 2.4. OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE .................................................................................. 2-20 2.5. EMISSIONS PERFORMANCE......................................................................................... 2-22 2.5.1.1. Gaseous Sample Extraction, Conditioning, and Handling........................... 2-23 2.5.1.2. Gaseous Pollutant Sampling Procedures ................................................... 2-24 2.5.1.3. Determination of Emission Rates ............................................................. 2-26 2.6. ELECTRICITY OFFSETS AND ESTIMATION OF EMISSION REDUCTIONS ................ 2-29 2.6.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 2-29 2.6.2. Determination of Microturbine GHG Emissions ...................................................... 2-31 2.6.3. Estimation of Baseline Annual GHG Emission Rates............................................... 2-32 2.6.3.1. U.S. Nationwide Emission Factors ........................................................... 2-34 2.6.3.2. Regional Emission Factors....................................................................... 2-34 2.6.3.3. User Specified Emission Factors .............................................................. 2-34 3.0 DATA QUALITY .....................................................................................................................................................................3-1 3.1. DATA QUALITY